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Friday, July 20, 2012

A Hunter's Angel by Cera Dubois Blog Tour, Guest Post and Book Review!

I am super excited today about my blog tour stop for A Hunter's Angel by Cera DuBois. I had so much fun reading this story that I can't wait to share it with you and hope that you too will give this great book a chance.

I am also excited that the author will be sharing with us a very special guest post as well!

Thank you Cera for agreeing to stop by today!

A
Hunter's Angel

by
Cera DuBois

Blurb
:

The
serial killer stalking Clayton, Pennsylvania, isn’t all that has
Chief of Police Grace Wallace worried. For a year, she’s tried to
forget Special Agent Ian McHenry and now he’s the expert the FBI
sent to catch the killer. She can’t stay away from him, but
something primal is telling her to run to save much more than just
her heart.

Despite
the strict code of ethics Ian vowed to follow as a vampire hunter, he
craves Grace’s blood above all others. If he chooses to stay, Ian
risks losing his chance at divine forgiveness.

But
if he leaves Grace unprotected from the evil he’s hunted for over a
century, he loses more than just his soul…

About
the Author:

Cera
duBois has a strong belief in never giving up on your dreams…
Although Cera was unable to read due to dyslexia and a learning
disability until she was in the fourth grade, she always had a story
to tell. She wrote her first novel in eleventh grade when she had to
keep a journal for her academic English class.

Since
her life was far from exciting growing up as a farm girl in West
Central Pennsylvania, she decided to rely on her imagination to give
her something to write about. Over the course of the school year, she
wrote a tangled romance set in the Deep South during the Civil War.

Becoming
an author was her ultimate dream. Despite holding a BS in secondary
social studies education from Penn State University, she currently
works full-time as a medical secretary.

A
mother of a teenage son and pre-teen daughter, she lives near
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband of nearly 20 years. If she
isn’t sitting in a quiet corner with her laptop, warm days will
find her in the English garden surrounding her house. Cera loves to
read and is interested in history, romance, science fiction and the
paranormal.

She
also writes contemporary Westerns under her real name of Sara Walter
Ellwood.

A few months ago, a friend asked me if I’ve ever read J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood Series after she’d read my book. I hadn’t and ended up making myself look real stupid when I asked the idiotic question... “I’ve heard of it. Isn’t it about vampires?”

“Are you friggin’ kidding me?” she asked, and I shrugged, mumbling something about being too busy to read everything out there.

She shook her head and explained why she asked the question. She wasn’t making fun of me for ignoring such a fantastic, amazing story.

No, she was amazed.

Because A Hunter’s Angel, the first book in my The Hunter’s Dagger series, has several of the same themes as Ms. Ward’s books.

I didn’t believe her. And went out and found Dark Lover, the first book in Ms. Ward’s series. Besides being totally in awe of the story, I devoured the darned thing, ignoring a self-imposed deadline to get another manuscript finished and ready for submission. I not only sacrificed precious writing time, I murdered my sleep as well. I didn’t care.

I. Couldn’t. Put. The. Damned. Thing. Down.

Then I went out and found the rest.

When I was finished Dark Lover, I sat back in my chair in total stupefaction. How the hell did I capture so many of Ms. Ward’s themes when I hadn’t even known what the books were about?

A Hunter’s Angel is a totally different story, but the similarities were downright freaky.

Daggers: In The Black Dagger Brotherhood, the dagger is used to rid the vampire world of the vicious enemy who kill defenseless vampires. In my The Hunter’s Dagger series, the dagger is used to rid the world of evil vampires and werewolves...and maybe even a demon or two...who prey upon humans.

The use of the spiritual world: In Ms. Ward’s book, there are the evil entity, the Omega, and the Scribe Virgin, who created the vampires and is their deity of sorts. In my books, I stick more to Christian/Judea myth and precepts. I have a Guardian Angel who helped the ancient master vampire Lucas Pomeroy learn how to live without killing humans then gave him the direction to become the lead warrior of the Hunters. And there’s the evil demon, a prince of Hell, who created the vampires. He’ll show up in the third book of the series to battle the Guardian.

The tortured Hero who feels he doesn’t deserve love: Many of the heroes in the Black Dagger Brotherhood are tortured souls. They do everything they can to protect those they have sworn to protect, but feel they can’t protect the one thing they love—the heroine. In A Hunter’s Angel, Ian has devoted his life to protecting humans from evil vampires and werewolves. But he also joins the FBI to track down human killers. But he feels he’s cursed and can’t offer Grace anything but pain, that is if he doesn’t kill her first.

The strong Heroine who shows the Hero what love really is while living in a world in which she feels she doesn’t belong: Here again, I was shocked at how my heroines and Ms. Ward’s compare. These women are all strong, can live life on their own, but they don’t feel they belong—until they meet the hero. In A Hunter’s Angel, Grace is the chief of police; she’s the only girl in a boy’s world, but she can kick anyone’s ass. While she’s with Ian, she feels at home. Now, if she can just convince Ian he needs her, too.

A Brotherhood: The Black Dagger Brotherhood is made up strong warriors who were born to protect. The Hunters in my series are vampires, both male and female warriors, who vowed to fight the demon tendencies within themselves to protect the humans they were created to kill.

I’m actually glad I hadn’t read The Black Dagger Brotherhood before writing my series. I may have tried to do things differently, but that wouldn’t have helped my story. Because my story is different. Changing these similarities would have made my characters too unlike the people they are, which would have been a disservice to their story.

***

To find out more about A Hunter’s Angel check out my website (http://ceradubois.wordpress.com/a-hunters-angel-the-book-tour/) for a schedule of my blog stops during the book tour. I will be presenting a series of short stories called The Vampire Encounters. Follow me as I interview Ian McHenry, Master Vampire Lucas Pomeroy, Vivian van Dyke Pomeroy, and have a scary run-in with Shane Chamberlain. Hope to see you along the way.

Contest:

Please leave a comment and your email address to be eligible. (Sorry, only USA and Canada residents are eligible for any prize that needs to be mailed. Non-residents and residents of USA are eligible for free PDF copy.)

*One Lucky Poster will win either a custom-made pair of angel wing earrings, charm bracelet, or necklace (check out my website for photos).

*Two others will get a PDF copy of Bloodwine. (for info on this short story check out my website)*1st Stalker Prize: Every Poster will be entered into a drawing for a chance at a $5 gift certificate from The Wild Rose Press (four to be given away)—drawing to happen on September 1.*2nd Stalker Prize: Every Poster will also be entered into a drawing of a $25 gift card from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice)—drawing to happen on September 1.

Blurb for A Hunter’s Angel:The serial killer stalking Clayton, Pennsylvania, isn’t all that has Chief of Police Grace Wallace worried. For a year, she’s tried to forget Special Agent Ian McHenry and now he’s the expert the FBI sent to catch the killer. She can’t stay away from him, but something primal is telling her to run to save much more than just her heart. Despite the strict code of ethics Ian vowed to follow as a vampire hunter, he craves Grace’s blood above all others. If he chooses to stay, Ian risks losing his chance at divine forgiveness. But if he leaves Grace unprotected from the evil he’s hunted for over a century, he loses more than just his soul…

Bio:Cera duBois has a strong belief in never giving up on your dreams…Although Cera was unable to read due to dyslexia and a learning disability until she was in the fourth grade, she always had a story to tell. She wrote her first novel in eleventh grade when she had to keep a journal for her academic English class. Since her life was far from exciting growing up as a farm girl in West Central Pennsylvania, she decided to rely on her imagination to give her something to write about. Over the course of the school year, she wrote a tangled romance set in the Deep South during the Civil War. Becoming an author was her ultimate dream. Despite holding a BS in secondary social studies education from Penn State University, she currently works full-time as a medical secretary. A mother of a teenage son and pre-teen daughter, she lives near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband of nearly 20 years. If she isn’t sitting in a quiet corner with her laptop, warm days will find her in the English garden surrounding her house. Cera loves to read and is interested in history, romance, science fiction and the paranormal. She also writes contemporary Westerns under her real name of Sara Walter Ellwood.

“I’m in love with the man inside the vampire.” Grace moved her hand to thread through his silky hair. When she rested the other over his heart, a soft sigh escaped his lips. Underneath her palm, the slow beat was barely noticeable.

His thumb grazed her cheekbone and slowly trailed down to the hollow of her throat. Her breathing quickened at the zinging anticipation as he caressed the pulse point where he’d claimed to have taken blood from her. He glanced at the spot with eyes as haunted as he sounded. “I’m not a man.”

“But you were once.”

He met her gaze again. “Yes, once.”

His fingers lingered over her pulse. Her heart raced under his touch. She tilted her neck as if his touch awakened some base instinct to offer the sacrifice. “Do you still want my blood?”

Ian stepped away and locked his wide-eyed gaze onto hers. At last, he rasped, “No, I don’t want your blood. Oh, God, I still crave it. You have the sweetest I’ve ever had, but I will never hurt you again.”

She didn’t know what possessed her to do so, but she whispered, “You can take...some of it.”

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he acidly said, “No, Grace. I can never taste your blood again. It would kill you.”

Fear of what she’d wanted him to do tumbled through her. She stepped away, and for a moment, she considered telling him to leave. How did she know any of this was real? She couldn’t imagine she’d ever freely offer a vampire her blood. Did she really believe him? He was sucking her into his insanity. But if this was true and he could make people do things against their will, maybe he could control her feelings.

“Maybe I should go?” Ian backed away another step and headed toward the counter where he’d left his dagger. He turned back to her with the sheath in his hand. Her heart shattered with the knowledge that, if he walked out the front door, she’d never see him again. “Goodbye, my sweet angel.”

His jagged murmur ripped at her soul as his eyes took on a blazing intensity and snared hers. She felt a pressure in her mind, and she knew what he intended to do. He wanted to erase her memories of him.

No!

My Thoughts and Review:

I have read quite a few vampire books,
I love the paranormal romance genre, I just do so of course when I
saw this book I knew I needed to read it.

I will say, even though I have read
quite a few books about vamps, this one is completely original. From
the characters to the situation to the views about vamps, this is one
you don't want to miss out on.

I had so much fun reading this, in fact
I read it in less than a day. I just got completely caught up in the
storyline with the mystery of the serial killer's identity to who Ian
really was and of course, Ian and Grace's past relationship and
hopefully future one.

DuBois did such an amazing job at
making this book stand out from others in the genre. It had a new
take on vampire lore and the whole serial killer theme made it
suspenseful too and gave it that slight edge that just made it
unique.

I loved that Ian wasn't only a vampire
but a vampire hunter. That he felt he needed to rid the world of the
bad guys and maybe by doing so he could redeem his soul at the same
time. He never once played the good guy in his eyes get he really did
have a heart of gold.

DuBois didn't romanticize vampires, she
made it very clear that they were still the bad guys even though
there were a few that tried to be better.

I really enjoyed this read and will
definitely be checking out DuBois' other books in the future.

Awesome accomplishment, Cera! Doesn't it kind of freak you out when you realize (too late) one of your stories are like some famous one's? Then again, what as compliment. I have gotten to the point I won't read my favorite kind of paranormal because I'm afraid of that very thing. I love wolf shifters and I know mine are unique and one of a kind in who they are. I want them to remain that way, true to character, incomparable (even if that's just in my mind), so I don't read shifter books. I've got a whole stack I'm saving for when mine are finished though! :)

Congrats on your release day and may your book be a huge success. I'll take a win. ;)

Thank you for stopping by everyone... You are all so great and supportive. ((HUGS))

Thank you, KindleMom, for the AWESOME review...

I love vampire books, but I'll be honest, the only ones I had read before starting to write A Hunter's Angel was Twilight and I'd seen a few movies. But now I can't get enough of them...books or movies/TV shows.

Wish someone would invent a machine to create more hours in the day....LOL!

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About Me

I am a full time mom and avid reader. When I am not playing dress up or chasing down lost toys and wrestling with the never ending pile of laundry, I read. Actually, I read whenever I get the chance. I love many different genres and would have a hard time choosing just one favorite book. And yes I really am obsessed with books, in fact I might be a book hoarder. Thankfully I have a Kindle and no one is the wiser to my vastly growing collection of books.